Math Neuroscience and Education Program

Developmental dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty affecting the acquisition of elementary mathematical skills, such as:

  • Quantity processing (e.g. estimating the number of spectators in a stadium)
  • Calculation (e.g. solving ‘53-14=39’ without paper)
  • Arithmetic facts (e.g. the multiplication table)
  • Geometrical reasoning (e.g. comparing the angles of a triangle).

Children with dyscalculia struggle in these domains, despite intellectual ability, typical neurological development, and strong educational opportunity.

  • Dyscalculia affects 3-6% of the population, similar to dyslexia.
  • Low numeracy is associated with poor financial well-being.
  • Improvement by one standard deviation in math proficiency translates into a 12% increase in wages.

Our Specific Aims

We are establishing a new Math Neuroscience and Education Program within the UCSF Dyslexia Center in order to better understand, prevent, and alleviate math difficulties. This program has three main goals:

  • Identify children at risk for math learning differences before elementary school.
  • Discover the neural bases of diffrent subtypes of dyscalculia.
  • Develop neuroscience-based interventions specifically tailored to individual profiles.

To learn more, click here!